Now that I have played with a few shots of this film, I feel that I can have an honest opinion about it. I do not mind that it takes a full day for the images to be fully developed and like the bright blue that it starts off to be. (And now want Impossible Project to create some cyan type film!) And I love the little inspirational quotes/ sayings that come out before the first shot; a good marketing ploy that makes me want another pack!
The somewhat frustrating part is that this film seems to be SO sensitive to its environment. I have found that taking shots out side is almost too much light, even on an overcast day. When shooting inside you need to have enough light so the image is not to dark. There is not much flexibility to the range of light/ heat that this film can take to develop into a good clear image. This pack will be fun to further experiment with, but don't know if I would buy another unless I wanted it for something very specific. They almost look like they are from the turn of the 19th century when photography was getting started, which I enjoy, but do not want for all my shots.
This is not regular film that you would use to document family or daily events and put in our photo album, which is what most people used their Polaroids for in the past. Only within the last 10 years or so did polaroid become coveted in museums and galleries. This could have been due to price increases, but this film is more for the experienced photographer, photo enthusiast and art student. I am not saying it is just for this type of person, but documenting little Billy's 5th Birthday in this unpredictable sepia toned film would not be what most would want. This is a different angle than what polaroid marketed their film for in the past. This is a part that I enjoy about this new film. I like the unpredictability of it as I am one who enjoys the unpredictability of her pinhole and holga and want to think about this film from all angles. This is a big change in our photographic history and its excited to see how it shapes the future of film.
I am also curious about the chemicals of this new film. I tore apart one of the pictures I did not like (and will post it once I understand what is happening.) The mylar, which is a very stable material that is used in all aspects of preservation, is the structure of the whole picture. There seems to be a thin white material covering around the outside of the image to create the look of the old Polaroids. There does not seem to have any other purpose than to mimic the Polaroid. Polaroids have that white frame around the outside to hold the chemicals. They are spread over the film when they eject out of the camera to create the chemical reaction and develop the image. It seems that the Impossible Project film has the chemicals behind where the image develops. This is all just my assumption from cutting apart the one film and will keep searching for the official answer, but that white frame on the Impossible film is not there for the same reasons as for Polaroids. This is not a good or bad thing, just something interesting I discovered that I want to research more about. I am thinking that this will make the film more stable, depending on what the chemicals are.
I am done ranting, here are my images so far:
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